Debby Ryan Gave Us the Scoop on Why She Went Platinum Blonde—and Why She Loves It

Changes are afoot! (And they're very pretty.)

In what became the dye job seen 'round the world, Jessie star Debby Ryan went totally platinum over the weekend. It was such a drastic departure from her normal hair, which oscillates between auburn and bright red, that we just had to get the full scoop on her new look.

"If we're being honest, I'm on a break from filming Jessie right now," Debby told us over the phone. "And I'm actually a natural blonde, so keeping red hair is a lot of maintenance."

So why not go back to her natural, slightly darker hue? "Something I've wanted to do from the beginning of my career is give all of my girls a different hair look," she says. "So Bailey from The Suite Life on Deck has a different style than Abby in 16 Wishes, who's totally different from Jessie, who's bright red. And it's funny, because when I'm filming Jessie, the headlines will say 'Debby is a redhead!' But I've never identified that way."

Before her break from filming, Debby was perusing Instagram and came across a photo of Lauren Conrad with purple hair. "I work with hair stylist Kristin Ess and she's incredible," she says of the woman responsible for Lauren's locks. "Lauren is the most beautiful girl with the most beautiful hair. So I sent her the photo and said, 'I want this!'""

Eventually, Ess convinced the star to compromise on what Debby calls "white, spooky, ash-blonde." But, unlike her other color experiments, this one had little to do with playing a role. "The transformation happened to go hand-in-hand with the fact that I've been making an album for a year and a half. But really, this is the first time I feel like I'm not playing a character. I'm actually Debby."

Her band, Debby and the Never Ending, is planning to release their debut album on June 24th of this year. A short Instagram video teased an official audio clip (and, coincidentally, the new hair!) of a forthcoming record called "When the Dark Falls." "It's hard to apply a genre to our sound, but it's a mix of indie, blues, and alt-rock," Debby says. (You can decide for yourself below!)

So are even more post-platinum changes to come in Debby's world? "Well, I did alter the way I dress," the star admits. "I used to wear tons of black on black, which looks great on a redhead. But now that I'm blonde, it looks morbid! I've been switching it up with colors like seafoam and blue, and wearing lots of chambray. Actually, Chris Galya, who plays my boyfriend on Jessie, just came to my birthday party. He and his girlfriend brought me this really cute Paige Denim shortsleeve acid-wash chambray shirt. It looks so good."

Along with the wardrobe change also came some alterations to her beauty routine. "I had to tone everything down," she says, laughing. "When I was a redhead, I wanted coverage. But now, I want everything to be sheer—no concealer, just a little bit of lip balm, and a winged liner. I will sometimes play with icy shadows or a bright lip, but that's it."

And, luckily, her new hair is a lot less maintenance than red. "There's such an ease to it," Debby says. "I let it air dry, then I'll just flip it around or change up my part, and use a little bit of dry shampoo when it's oily so I only have to wash it once or twice a week."

But this little dye job did, in fact, mean big things. "It's empowered me to be more daring," she notes. "I have platinum shoes to fill!"